Link
The article titled "South Dakota candidates target Rounds" discusses many issues in the current Senate race. The main point that is focussed on discusses how Rick Weiland and Larry Pressler are targeting Rounds concerning the EB-5 visa program. The program was designed to lure foreign investors to South Dakota with visas as long as they invested $500,000 in local projects. While this appears to be a sound plan, there are corruption charges that are currently being investigated by federal authorities. Rounds has defended this plan which was instituted while he was governor causing the influx of political attacks from Pressler and Weiland.
The article is all over the place in areas but is well written when it describes the EB-5 program and why it is so vital to the race. It is being used as fodder for candidates who are desperately attempting to catch up to the frontrunner Rounds. In my personal opinion, I do not approve of the corruption that has occurred in the project, but one has to let the full investigation be completed before making a decision about a candidate solely based on this issue It almost seems to me that this series of attacks is being used as a desperate, last attempt to gain votes before election day.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Senate Race is Heating Up in South Dakota
The Senate race in South Dakota is heating up with three candidates that have the potential to win. An article from the Huffington post (Link) gives an unbiased guide to how each candidate feels about certain issues. Going over the answers to each question that was given to each candidate really helped gain perspective on the race. Looking at these, one can see that each candidate is very loyal to the beliefs of their respective parties with the Independent Pressler leaning more towards a Democratic stance. The issues discussed included a wide variety of issues from climate change legislation to gay marriage to health care legislation.
Overall, the article is a great guide to voters as it clearly states the opinions of the candidates in a way that voters can easily understand. I will now be able to vote with more confidence since I know how each candidate feels about issues that matter to me. This election will be influential as the balance in the Senate may be shifting greatly shown in the following graphic (Link).
Overall, the article is a great guide to voters as it clearly states the opinions of the candidates in a way that voters can easily understand. I will now be able to vote with more confidence since I know how each candidate feels about issues that matter to me. This election will be influential as the balance in the Senate may be shifting greatly shown in the following graphic (Link).
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
First Victory in New Cold War?
Link
Summary- According to the Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian forces have begun to withdraw from the Ukraine region. Kerry stated, however, that a larger Russian withdrawal will be required before the United States lifts its crippling, economic sanctions on Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko within this week. Hopefully, this meeting will help ease the tensions between the two countries with the current war claiming the lives of about 3,400 lives.
Analysis and Opinion- I found this article to bring to light a key turning point in the relationship between the East and West. It is a political victory for the U.S. as Russia backed down from their aims first. The meeting between the heads of state of both Russia and the Ukraine will, optimistically, encourage the use of diplomacy instead of violence to solve this issue. I am personally pleased with the decisions made by the Russian high command since I am now eligible for the draft.
Summary- According to the Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian forces have begun to withdraw from the Ukraine region. Kerry stated, however, that a larger Russian withdrawal will be required before the United States lifts its crippling, economic sanctions on Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko within this week. Hopefully, this meeting will help ease the tensions between the two countries with the current war claiming the lives of about 3,400 lives.
Analysis and Opinion- I found this article to bring to light a key turning point in the relationship between the East and West. It is a political victory for the U.S. as Russia backed down from their aims first. The meeting between the heads of state of both Russia and the Ukraine will, optimistically, encourage the use of diplomacy instead of violence to solve this issue. I am personally pleased with the decisions made by the Russian high command since I am now eligible for the draft.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
The "Key" to our Energy Problems
Summary- My current event this week discusses a mainstay issue in Congress for the past few years, the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline would help move crude oil from Canada and the northern states of Montana and North Dakota to oil refineries mainly located in southern Texas (Map and Quick Facts). The propsed pipline would help free up the energy gridlock in our country and reduce the effects of a lack of consistent oil due to violence in the Middle East. Most senators including Senator Thune from South Dakota support the building of the proposed pipeline (News Report). However, the proposal has not yet been passed due to the majority leader in the Senate and President Obama blocking it for the past few years.
Analysis- I am entirely for building the pipeline. The economic benefits for the communities located along the pipeline would be enormous as it brings capital and jobs to dying towns. It will also help ease the energy gridlock as our underdeveloped and poorly maintained rail system can not handle the stress of increased oil traffic. The technology used will make sure that no negative, environmental impacts will be felt. All in all, the Keystone XL pipeline needs to be built to help the United States come closer to achieving economic independence.
Analysis- I am entirely for building the pipeline. The economic benefits for the communities located along the pipeline would be enormous as it brings capital and jobs to dying towns. It will also help ease the energy gridlock as our underdeveloped and poorly maintained rail system can not handle the stress of increased oil traffic. The technology used will make sure that no negative, environmental impacts will be felt. All in all, the Keystone XL pipeline needs to be built to help the United States come closer to achieving economic independence.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Ebola has made it to the United States, but don't worry just yet
Government Confirms First Case of Ebola in US
Summary- My current event this week discusses the first diagnosed case of Ebola in the United States where the patient showed initial symptoms in the United States. The case is located in Dallas, Texas as a man who had recently traveled to Liberia on the West African Coast. This whole region is experiencing the worst Ebola outbreak in almost half a century. The man being discussed has been put in isolation at a local hospital. Officials believe that the infection has not spread beyond this man.
Analysis and Opinion- Ebola has been in the news a lot recently and rightfully so. The outbreak in West Africa has killed thousands of people and has spread unconstrained across three countries. However, people in the United States should not fear a global pandemic just yet. This particular strain only spreads while patients are exhibiting symptoms (such as vomiting, fever, and failure of blood cells) through close fluid contact. This disease is not airborne and thrives in countries with poor public water works and hygiene systems such as Africa. Many are scared of this disease and we all should be. It is the world's second deadliest disease according to case fatality rate which is the percentage of people who are diagnosed with disease that die. In the case of Ebola, the case fatality rate is 83 percent, a shockingly high number. However, the slow spreading ability of the disease has allowed scientists and health workers to contain it in the past and will do so again.
Summary- My current event this week discusses the first diagnosed case of Ebola in the United States where the patient showed initial symptoms in the United States. The case is located in Dallas, Texas as a man who had recently traveled to Liberia on the West African Coast. This whole region is experiencing the worst Ebola outbreak in almost half a century. The man being discussed has been put in isolation at a local hospital. Officials believe that the infection has not spread beyond this man.
Analysis and Opinion- Ebola has been in the news a lot recently and rightfully so. The outbreak in West Africa has killed thousands of people and has spread unconstrained across three countries. However, people in the United States should not fear a global pandemic just yet. This particular strain only spreads while patients are exhibiting symptoms (such as vomiting, fever, and failure of blood cells) through close fluid contact. This disease is not airborne and thrives in countries with poor public water works and hygiene systems such as Africa. Many are scared of this disease and we all should be. It is the world's second deadliest disease according to case fatality rate which is the percentage of people who are diagnosed with disease that die. In the case of Ebola, the case fatality rate is 83 percent, a shockingly high number. However, the slow spreading ability of the disease has allowed scientists and health workers to contain it in the past and will do so again.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Islamic Youth Take on the Islamic State Using an Interesting Method
Link: Muslim youths counter Islamic State with #NotInMyName Twitter campaign
Most of you are familiar the unpleasant situation in the Middle East concerning the Islamic State. The whole situation has shed a negative light upon Islam in the public eye. This is particularly true considering that the Islamic State has its own social media campaign that is of high quality and has gained a Western audience which has led to some Westerners to join the Islamic State. This article discusses how Muslim youths around the world are trying to fight back against this stigma using the #NotInMyName. The campaign is attempting to show the world that the Islamic State does not portray Islam as it is supposed to be by sharing actual wisdom from the Islamic faith. Some of the 20,000 tweets that have already been posted are astounding. The following example is one such tweet:
"True Islam teaches that forgiveness is the highest level of strength, and revenge is the highest level of weakness #NotInMyName"— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) September 22, 2014
My analysis of this article is really positive. While it is not lengthy or shocking in any sense, I found it to be quite interesting to hear how Muslim youths are reacting to the recent extremist activity. The quotes were a nice touch in the article and really helped to drive home the point that not all Muslims are on the side of the extremists. In my final opinion, the article was well written and brought to light the opinions of different groups of Muslims. This goes against a common stereotype that it is always the West versus Islam when, in fact, the situation is much more complicated.
Most of you are familiar the unpleasant situation in the Middle East concerning the Islamic State. The whole situation has shed a negative light upon Islam in the public eye. This is particularly true considering that the Islamic State has its own social media campaign that is of high quality and has gained a Western audience which has led to some Westerners to join the Islamic State. This article discusses how Muslim youths around the world are trying to fight back against this stigma using the #NotInMyName. The campaign is attempting to show the world that the Islamic State does not portray Islam as it is supposed to be by sharing actual wisdom from the Islamic faith. Some of the 20,000 tweets that have already been posted are astounding. The following example is one such tweet:
"True Islam teaches that forgiveness is the highest level of strength, and revenge is the highest level of weakness #NotInMyName"— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) September 22, 2014
My analysis of this article is really positive. While it is not lengthy or shocking in any sense, I found it to be quite interesting to hear how Muslim youths are reacting to the recent extremist activity. The quotes were a nice touch in the article and really helped to drive home the point that not all Muslims are on the side of the extremists. In my final opinion, the article was well written and brought to light the opinions of different groups of Muslims. This goes against a common stereotype that it is always the West versus Islam when, in fact, the situation is much more complicated.
Monday, September 15, 2014
Learning not to Trust the Media, the Hard Way
My first blog post is in response to Meredith Colias, and her article "C-SPAN Bus Rolls into Town, but Students Still Skeptical of Political Process" (Link to the article) published in the Rapid City Journal on August 30th. In retrospect, it is clear that Ms. Colias already knew the article that she wanted to write before she met with our class, as evidenced by the lack of quotes from the 25-minute interview we had with her which covered several news topics. Instead, she waited until the conclusion of the interview, when we were laughing and joking with each other, then put the following to us: "How do you think some kids your age would respond [to things such as the low voter turnout]?" The quotes in the published article are our responses to that post-interview question, not our personal views on political involvement.
I am also baffled as to why the article was posted on the front of the Rapid City Journal considering that it only interviewed students at one high school but proceeded to brand all teens under one banner. More importantly, the article lost its focus. The article should have focused on the appearance of the C-SPAN bus and its impact, not the political views of teens. Questions such as, "Did you find the bus intriguing?" or "How do you feel about the C-SPAN scholarship program?" would have been more appropriate.
Looking back on it, I realize that people should think of all the ways the media can twist a story before making any comments on it. A simple story about an informational bus visiting our school became an affront to those interviewed, our teacher, and the student body as a whole. I will now go forward taking extra steps to carefully articulate all my thoughts and emotions about a subject when discussing anything with the media.
I am also baffled as to why the article was posted on the front of the Rapid City Journal considering that it only interviewed students at one high school but proceeded to brand all teens under one banner. More importantly, the article lost its focus. The article should have focused on the appearance of the C-SPAN bus and its impact, not the political views of teens. Questions such as, "Did you find the bus intriguing?" or "How do you feel about the C-SPAN scholarship program?" would have been more appropriate.
Looking back on it, I realize that people should think of all the ways the media can twist a story before making any comments on it. A simple story about an informational bus visiting our school became an affront to those interviewed, our teacher, and the student body as a whole. I will now go forward taking extra steps to carefully articulate all my thoughts and emotions about a subject when discussing anything with the media.
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